Racing For The Gold! “Project Gotham Racing 4″ Goes Gold

New game web site launches as the latest installment of the legendary racing series gets set to release exclusively on Xbox 360 on 12th October 2007

LONDON, 14th September 2007 – Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations today announced that “Project Gotham Racing 4” (“PGR 4”), the latest installment of the best-selling and award-winning racing franchise, has been released to manufacturing. The team also confirmed that the game’s new web site is up and running. Fans can now visit http://www.pgrnations.com for all the latest news, features and updates from the “PGR” universe and the team at Bizarre.

Set to redefine the experience “PGR” fans have come to know and love, “PGR 4” is set to race onto store shelves on 12th October. Featuring a unique, exciting racing experience where dramatic racing action is captured in breathtaking cinematic style, “PGR 4” is sure to capture the attention of racing fans everywhere. The all new addition of motorcycles adds a new dimension to the “PGR” driving experience by allowing gamers to compete and pull off amazing driving manoeuvres not possible on four wheels.

The official “PGR 4” web site at http://www.pgrnations.com contains the most recent news and updates in the Project Gotham universe. Currently, the web site is the home to the game’s full robust vehicles list, including models from the world’s top car and motorcycle manufacturers, as well as the official Achievements list. The site will be continually updated to give fans a true home base with all the “PGR 4” information and content they’re looking for.

From the inspired minds at Bizarre Creations, “PGR 4” offers franchise fans and new players alike exciting new ways to race over Xbox LIVE. “PGR 4” allows drivers to build a global racing community through team-oriented gameplay while making it easy to find their favourite races, friends, ghosts, replays or photos. Additional improvements to the unique Kudos rewards system provides gamers with more incentives to show off their distinctive driving styles including the ability to purchase new vehicles, game modes, gamerpics and more at the “PGR” Shop. “PGR 4” will be available at retailers nationwide on 12th October for an estimated retail price of £44.99.

- Brand New Pokémon Global Trading Station Website To Launch -

14th September 2007 - Over 10 million people globally are enjoying the phenomenon that is Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl and in Europe, 1.6 million copies have been sold in just 7 weeks since launch. For the first time in the Pokémon series, these games have allowed fans to trade Pokémon with anyone in the world via the Global Trading Station, using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Now an all-new and exciting Pokémon service is being made available, as fans are invited to visit the Pokémon GTS website - www.pokemon-gts.net - where they can keep up-to-date on the global Pokémon trade.

From Friday 14th September, 5pm CET, the Pokémon GTS website will be the place to go for fans across the globe, giving them access to top trading information such as the most traded Pokémon, most deposited and wanted Pokémon at the Global Trading Station, as well as discovering which Pokémon are being traded most in each country. The top 50 most traded Pokémon, as well the top 50 most wanted and most deposited Pokémon in the world.

Trying to work out which Pokémon are the best to collect? Using the GTS site, you can simply click on the image of the Pokémon being traded to gain all the information you could ever need, including Pokémon name, type, moves learnt and the time, date and country it was deposited in. What’s more, users have the opportunity to bookmark any Pokémon discovered, adding them to a ‘favourites’ folder to look out for next time they visit the GTS in Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl.

Using the interactive globe element, users can rotate and research Pokémon trading action from many parts of the world. By simply spinning the globe and clicking an area of interest, users can find out more details about the Pokémon but also discover facts about many countries, including capital city, population, language spoken and local greetings!

So log on and discover a whole new world of trading everyone’s favourite Pokémon! Visit www.pokemon-gts.net  from 14th September.

- ‘Hanabi Festival’ on Wii’s Virtual Console sees the launch of classic titles never before released in Europe!-

14th September, 2007- Wii’s Virtual Console has provided a portal into the past since the console’s launch, allowing millions of Wii owners to experience some of the greatest classic titles from yesteryear. Now for the first time ever, European Wii owners will be able to broaden their horizons as a selection of great titles never before released in PAL territories become available to download from the Wii Shop Channel. If you’ve always wanted to discover some of the titles released in Japan or America, now is the perfect time!

Named after the Japanese holiday season famous for its firework displays, the ‘Hanabi Festival’ on Wii’s Virtual Console will see the release of a selection of classic titles split over three themed weeks, starting from today. To celebrate the launch of Super Mario Bros. in Japan on 13th September 1985, the first week of the Hanabi Festival on Wii’s Virtual Console will be Mario Week and will feature the classic Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ and puzzler Mario’s Super Picross™. On top of these great Mario titles, Mario will also be taken to the next dimension as he folds effortlessly from 2D to 3D in Super Paper Mario only on Wii, which is also available in shops across Europe from today.

Over the following two weeks of the Hanabi Festival, Virtual Console fans will get to experience a host of special classics including the US versions of Nintendo Entertainment System action–platformer Ninja Gaiden™ and space shoot ‘em up Gradius III™ (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), as well as discovering Japanese-exclusive titles like Ninja JaJaMaru-Kun (Nintendo Entertainment System) and the cult Nintendo 64 blaster Sin And Punishment.

The first of this week’s retro treats is the 1986 sequel to the best-selling game of all time. Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ was originally only available for the Famicom Disk System in Japan and expands on the original with all-new level designs, trickier enemies and obstacles, and secret worlds to explore. For the Mario purist this is the ultimate gaming treat, but make sure you hurry; this title will be a collector’s item and will only be available for download until the last day of the event on 30th September (all other Hanabi Festival titles will remain available after the event). Super Mario Bros.™: The Lost Levels™ is available now for 600 Wii Points.

Joining this great game will be 1995 Super Nintendo puzzle title Mario’s Super Picross™. This classic picture crossword game, previously available only in Japan, features hundreds of challenging yet relaxing puzzles. Each puzzle features a grid of tiles that reveal a picture when filled correctly. Like Picross DS, Mario’s Super Picross™ includes a save function allowing players to return to puzzles later and a selection of changeable background melodies. Mario’s Super Picross™ is available now for 900 Wii Points.

Also, separate to the Hanabi Festival, comes the latest Turbografx release: action-adventure Neutopia II. In the first Neutopia title (also available on Virtual Console) the heroic Jazeta destroyed Dirth the emperor of darkness. Many years later, the shadow of darkness is spreading across the land and Jazeta must once again take up his arms to save his father and defeat Dirth once again. Neutopia II is available now for 600 Wii Points.

With the addition of new games never seen before in Europe, Virtual Console offers users the ultimate retro gaming experience. They join the list of 135 classic titles already available for Virtual Console in Europe.

Paris, France / Leamington Spa, UK, September 14, 2007 - Blitz Games announced today that it is using Kynapse, the market leading AI middleware solution for an unannounced next generation title currently in development.

The project is one of the largest ever undertaken by Blitz Games and is due for release on Xbox360 and PlayStation 3.

“We have invested many millions of pounds since 1999 in developing our own BlitzWare engine and tool chain which have been used successfully to publish 42 titles to date – every one on time and to budget” said Andrew Oliver, Blitz’ CTO. “However, on this occasion we needed a very quick start. Since the game is very AI intensive and with several of our other development teams in the middle of their own next-gen games, we decided to turn to a third-party solution on this occasion, to guarantee success to our client. We therefore took a detailed look at the architecture and tool-chain used by a number of AI middleware solutions and found that Kynapse provided the best fit with our own methods of production.”

“We are delighted to be working with Blitz Games on this new exciting project”, said Pierre Pontevia, CEO of Kynogon SA. “Blitz has an unrivalled reputation within the industry for the quality of its technology, and we are honoured to be providing middleware to the company.”

About Blitz Games
Founded in 1990 by twin brothers Andrew and Philip Oliver, Blitz Games is one of the largest and most experienced independent video games developers in the world. The company is currently developing 9 different games on 17 skus. It has over 220 employees working in 5 operating divisions: Blitz Games (family boxed games - www.BlitzGames.com), Volatile Games (mature audience games – www.VolatileGames.com), Blitz Arcade (casual downloadable games – www.BlitzArcade.com), TruSim (serious games for training – www.TruSim.com) and The Virtual Experience Company (cultural heritage visualizations – www.VirtualExperience.co.uk). The company continues its huge long-term investment into BlitzWare, its in-house technology, which provides one of the best game development environments of any independent developer. Blitz is based on one site in Leamington Spa, UK.

About Kynogon
Kynogon develops and markets A.I. software for real-time behavior simulation. Kynogon’s technology is used by the world’s leading game developers (Electronic Arts, Activision, Atari, Bethesda Softworks, Lionhead Studios, Real Time Worlds, SEGA, Spark Unlimited, Turbine, …) as well as industry leaders ( EADS, British Aerospace, …) Kynogon is offering Kynapse, a unique A.I. engine. With Kynapse, Non Player Characters  can move around in any 3D dynamic world, understand their environment, hide, communicate, cooperate, drive vehicles, etc. For more information please visit www.kynogon.com.

The Spider-Man™: Friend or Foe Xbox 360™ demo is now available for download on Xbox Live® Marketplace. Gamers can play as Spider-Man and villains-turned-allies Green Goblin or Venom in the Tokyo Rooftops level, as well as a boss battle with Doc Ock in the Tokyo Secret Labs level. Players will be rewarded with an unlockable sidekick cheat code for the game. What’s more, the game will offer Xbox Live fans 1000 achievement points, via 12 in-game achievements. Spidey fanatics can visit the newly posted game page on Xbox Live to find out what the achievements will be.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe is being developed by Next Level Games for the Xbox 360 video game system from Microsoft, Wii™ video game system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system, Nintendo DS™ and Games for Windows®.

Highly Anticipated, Award-Winning Title Delivers Groundbreaking Graphics and Environmental Destruction

LONDON – September 14th, 2007 - Midway Games Ltd, a subsidiary of Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment publisher and developer today announced that Stranglehold™, for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, is now shipping to retail across Europe. Featuring duel-wielding, stunt-laden gameplay, incredible environmental destruction and a multiplayer experience that brings all the intense action online, Stranglehold is available for a European SRP of €69.95 (£49.99) for Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 collectors’ edition is available for a European SRP of €74.99 (£54.99). Stranglehold is scheduled to be available for PC on September 28th for a European SRP of €44.95 (£29.99) and will follow on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in October for a European SRP of €69.95 (£49.99).

“Stranglehold marks a significant milestone in Midway’s commitment to developing and publishing high-quality, triple-A products,” said Martin Spiess, Managing Director - Europe, Midway Games Ltd. “The game not only delivers the intense, cinematic gunplay that acclaimed action director John Woo is known for, but completely redefines what action gaming is all about.”

About Stranglehold™

A collaboration with world renowned action film director John Woo’s Tiger Hill Entertainment, Stranglehold allows players to experience the excitement of true next-gen action as you take on the role of Inspector Tequila created by John Woo for his influential action film, Hard Boiled starring Chow Yun-Fat. Ensnared by a crime boss with a gripping secret, Inspector Tequila is forced to cross the line from sworn duty to renegade cop. Engage your enemies with intense cinematic gun battles and cause massive environmental damage in real-time or revolutionary slow-motion Tequila Time. More information about Stranglehold can be found online at www.strangleholdgame.com

About Tiger Hill Entertainment

Tiger Hill is the sister company to Woo and Chang’s Lion Rock Productions, the feature film and television company whose credits include BROKEN ARROW, FACE/OFF, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II, THE BIG HIT and WINDTALKERS. Tiger Hill develops and creatively produces content for video games, animation, and comic book properties. Currently on shelves now is John Woo’s 7 BROTHERS published by Virgin Comics, and due for release early next year is the feature length anime EX MACHINA, the sequel to the 2005 feature anime APPLESEED. Woo’s next directing project RED CLIFF is due for release in the summer of 2008.

About Midway

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices throughout the world, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for major videogame systems and personal computers. More information about Midway and its products can be found at www.midway.com.

Seoul Korea, 14th September - After the finale of its European match in Germany, the Game and Game World Championship 2007(GNGWC2007, www.gngwc.com) matches fired off in America, East Asia, and Korea.

KIPA(Korean IT Industry Promotion Agency), the host of GNGWC, announced the kickoff this year’s league in July with six official games – Bomb N Dash (www.bombndash.com), Navy Field (www.navyfield.com), Record of Lunia War(global.lunia.com), Silkroad Online (www.silkroadonline.net), Shot Online (shotonline.gamescampus.com), and War Rock (www.warrock.net). The European final rounds - the first GNGWC2007 match held at the Game Convention Europe - were successful with attracting more than 150,000 participants. Nine players from that finale were selected for the Grand Final to be held on December 1st in Seoul, Korea.

With this successful launch from European gamers, the world’s first MMO e-sports event sponsored by Korea Telecom, the biggiest telecom company in Korea, is now on the way to the American, Vietnam and Korean leagues. All six official games are going to host the match in America, and five games excluding Bomb N Dash will join the Korean league. Silkroad Online, Bomb N Dash, and War Rock will run their matches in the East Asia,.

The first regional match to be kicked off in September was the Korean League. Preliminary matches of Record of Lunia war, Shot Online, Silkroad Online, Navy Field will determine the players that will advance to the Korean Final match, scheduled to be held on 30th September during the Cyber Festival Show. War Rock, unlike other games, has been running its game league, and will pick up Korea representative players from this match. “The competition commence date will be announced by the end of September,” said the representative of Dreamexecution, developer studio of War Rock.

In the America league, War Rock is the first game that started the preliminary matches last week, and Navyfield will follow with its match being held from September 14th to October 7th. Shot Online, Bomb N Dash, and Record of Lunia War are going to start the preliminary matches next week, and SilkRoad Online is scheduled to start the preliminary match on Oct 1st . Each game will pick certain players to go to the final match which will be held on October 20th in Los Angeles at the “LA PC Café”.

Registration for the East Asia match has already begun and hundreds of players from Bomb N Dash, and Silkroad Online are signing up. Since among young people in Vietnam online gaming is one of the most popular entertainments, their interest toward this MMO festival is quite high. The final East Asia match will be held on 13th October in Hochiminh, Vietnam.

The final winners of each country will be selected to participate in the grand final match held on December 1st in Seoul, Korea, and a digital camera, MP3 player, and DVD player will be provided to the 2nd and 3rd place winners of each regional match. Furthermore, the 1st place winner of the Grand Final on Dec 1st in Seoul will be awarded $5,000, $3,000 for the 2nd place, and $1,000 for the 3rd place. In addition, a Korean tour program is in the works to be held during this grand final period too, KIPA said.

About GNGWC(Game and Game World Championship)

GNGWC is an international game competition which began in 2006 by KIPA in order to promote Korean online games throughout the World. Last year, 1,070,000 gamers from 5 regions including Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, America took participation in competing in 3 Korean games, ‘Silkroad Online’, ‘Gunbound’, and ‘Shot Online’. With the success from previous year, the event is planned to continue in the future.

About KIPA

KIPA(Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency) was established in 1998 by the Ministry of Information and Communication as a non-profit organization. Its role is to contribute to the globalization of the Korea information technology industry, support start-up software companies, and improve the quality of Korea’s software the industry’s productivity through process improvement efforts. “Global Service Platform” initiative, which is also known as “game&game” and “Game and Game World Championship”, is an part of its global marketing support program for the information technology industry.

About Levelup Communications
Levelup Communications is an agency focused on supporting the marketing and publicity initiatives of companies involved within the game industry. The agency offers a suite of services, including public relations, advertising, promotions, branding and business development. Visit http://www.lvlupcommunications.com/ for more information about Levelup Communications.

Nintendo’s Brain Age 2 Keeps Your Mind Active

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 14, 2007 - When people think of “fitness” or “self-improvement,” typically their wish list includes attributes like a smaller waistline, toned muscles or tight abs. No one ever seems to pay the mind … any mind. That’s where Nintendo comes in. September marks both Self-Improvement Month and Healthy Aging Month, and Nintendo has the tools people need to make some mental changes in their lives.

“Brain Age 2 fits into a category I call ‘Nana’ technology, or technology aimed at older adults,” says professor Andrew Carle, an expert in seniors’ technology and aging populations from George Mason University. “Not only does it keep your mind fresh and active, but it also includes an important social component as well.”

Millions of people worldwide already have discovered the fun of keeping their minds sharp using Brain Age™ 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! for Nintendo DS™. Nintendo’s new brain-training software includes more than 15 different activities designed to challenge the brain with fun tests of memory, math, words and even music. These activities let users have fun while keeping their brains humming. Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! even includes more than 100 of the popular sudoku number puzzles.

The touch-screen interface makes it easy for anyone to pick up and play. For instance, The Carter Burden Center for the Aging in New York City will be hosting a Brain Age 2 game-play event in September in honor of Healthy Aging Month. The event features demonstrations of Brain Age 2 and Nintendo DS Lite, which is already stirring up excitement among seniors in the community. Nintendo also showcased Brain Age 2 at the AARP Life @ 50+ National Event & Expo Sept. 6-8 in Boston.

“Whether you’re 5 or 95, everyone’s a gamer,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Brain Age 2 can be part of an overall program for health and fitness, regardless of your age or experience with video games.”

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! is available now at an MSRP of just $19.99. This title is rated E for Everyone. For more information about it, visit www.BrainAge.com.